The Morphing Grid
by Pink Wolf Princess
Summary: An old fanfic of mine featuring an interesting assortment of Rangers- some of them as kids.  And now a teenaged Ranger too!
1. Chapter 1: Homecoming

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, and this was just something I dredged up from my laptop that's about 2 years old I think. 

It's pre RPM, let's put it that way. So yeah; there are issues with the PR canon and just plain early fanfic issues. In other words, feel free to mock me. Such as an overambitious title for starters…

A rewrite is not happening. Nuh-uh. This is just being posted mostly because... well, I haven't gotten that much time to write up new stuff so why not release some of the old?

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Homecoming<strong>

It was late evening in the city of Angel Grove; the sky was violet dotted with white and shadows had stretched out languidly. Near the old-fashioned Angel Grove High School was a large building labeled Ernie's Juice Bar. A well-built man with graying light brown hair in a dull green uniform paused before it.

"It's good to be home," he sighed, adjusting his stuffed black backpack, before nearing the door. Although the sign said 'closed' the man got out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. Quietly he opened it and entered.

The tile floor was clean, as were the booths. The bar was still glistening from a washing, though the bar seats wouldn't mind a reholstering. The walls were a cheery teal, and fluorescent lights glowed down upon the rest of the building. A wiry man with dark brown hair in a colorful Hawaiian shirt came out from the back room, saying, "Sorry, but the bar's closed until- Ernie!"

"Hey, Jerome. She looks good."

"Thanks," the other man replied awkwardly, wringing the dish towel in his hands. "Business has been pretty good, especially after the villains of the universe got wiped out by some green energy wave. Nobody's real sure what it was, and the Rangers haven't been seen since in Angel Grove, or anywhere else for that matter."

"At least not as Rangers."

The two men understood one another.

"Tommy comes in, 'bout once a week or whenever his college workload lets him. Hair nearly down to his butt; I keep telling if he wants to be a scientist he can't look like a hippie. Jason's a little more infrequent; usually with Tommy. But he's busy constructing that community center in Ocean Bluff as well as earning his college degree so it's understandable. Trini's here nearly every day since her flower shop is just down the street. Zack brings Angela here about once a month. The two of them are still going steady. Kim comes in about once, twice, a month. She's doing well in gymnastics competitions, but lately she's been coming in less often. I don't know why. Adam's busy setting up his own dojo in Stone Canyon, but he still comes by a couple times a month with Rocky. Aisha's in Africa, so it's kind of hard for her to visit. Same for Kat in London. Tanya comes by occasionally; busy trying to become a music superstar. Little Justin works here part-time now. He graduates next spring- a year early."

"But isn't he only fourteen this summer?" Ernie smiled curiously. Jerome shrugged in amusement. "What can I say, the kid's got brains."

"Speaking of brains, you didn't mention Billy back when you were talking about the first six."

"No one has seen hair or hide of him since near the end of Zeo, and whenever I ask any of them they get shifty-eyed and change the subject. Don't think he's dead though- probably just living a blissful life in a lab on another planet."

"Hm. And Ashley, T.J., Cassie, and Andros?"

"They come by sometimes, as do Andros and Zhane, although they prefer hanging out at the Surfing Spot."

"Who are Andros and Zhane?"

"The Red Space Ranger and the Silver Space Ranger. You never met them, Ernie, but they're okay. Andros's hair isn't quite as long as Tommy's and doesn't say much, while Zhane is a bit of a chatterbox sometimes. Although sometimes I think they're aliens."

"Aren't all teenagers sometimes?" Ernie laughed, walking towards the bar. Seriously Jerome replied, "I mean aliens from another planet, but that could be the hyper-sensitive radar of a former police man."

"So. The time of the Power Rangers had ended," Ernie commented wistfully, although why he did so was beyond him. The Power Rangers in their bright, form-fitting uniforms and awe-inspiring, massive Zords had protected the city from great and terrible evils, so it was a good thing that they were no longer needed.

"Not so fast with the funeral march, Ernie. I heard from one of my old buddies that there's a spaceship out there seeking out a habitable planet, and since evil's after it there's a team of Power Rangers on board."

"But that's not really on Earth," Ernie sighed. "Strange as it sounds, I wish the Rangers were still active."

"It was like being in the middle of an adventure novel," agreed Jerome. "But enough about what's been happening here. How was your tenure with your foreign relations unit in the Amazon?"

"Great. I saw so much wildlife, caught up with my old buddies and made some new ones, helped out people, and the weight loss didn't hurt."

"Erm…" Jerome hadn't wanted to comment; before leaving Ernie had had a decided potbelly which was now nonexistent. Ernie let out a resounding laugh.

"It's all right, Jerome. I'm easy-going. Hey, I had to be that way with teenagers that had secret identities as superheroes popping in and out all the time."

"Tell me about it."

"I kept all your letters, you know. The one where you're panicking out over the fact that you've figured out that they're the Power Rangers- I reread it every day. Reminds me of those early days."

An embarrassed Jerome changed the subject. "When did you first figure out that they were the Rangers?"

"Well… I first got suspicious when Tommy started hanging out with them just after the Green Ranger stopped fighting against the Rangers and started fighting with them. That opened my eyes; Tommy always wore green, Jason red, Trini yellow, and so on. Plus whenever they left, the Power Rangers showed up! I may not be a former police officer like you, but I have eyes. Then Tommy left about the same time the Green Ranger did. When Tommy reappeared wearing white the same time the White Ranger came around, that's when I knew for sure."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I didn't know myself until a week ago. I'd arrive before a letter would, so I figured I might as well surprise you."

"And see how well I've been taking care of your baby."

"Just a bit, even though the Juice Bar is yours now."

"Well…" Jerome came to a decision, seeing how attached Ernie still was to the Juice Bar. "How about we become co-owners?"

"Really?" he beamed. "Thanks, Jerome."

"No problem. We both love the Juice Bar… but could it be Ernie and Jerome's Juice Bar now?"

"Sure," Ernie laughed. "I don't see why not."


	2. Chapter 2: Truths Revealed

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, and this fanfic is kind of silly looking back. Yeah. Good thing I stopped about what- chapter seven? Ai ai ai.

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Truths Revealed<strong>

"Hey, Justin," smiled a college student as he swung open the door to the Juice Bar. He wore a red T-shirt and jeans, and his dark brown hair came down his back in springy curls. A young brown-haired teenager in a blue sweater behind the bar smiled back in greeting as he wiped the bar.

"Hi, Tommy. How did final exams go?"

"All right," he shrugged as he sat down. "I haven't gotten the results back yet, but I think I did okay. Yours?"

"All 100s. Hey! Maybe next fall we can be roommates at college together! That'd be cool."

"A senior and a freshman in the same quarters?" Tommy grinned wryly. "I'd bet the people in charge would have to say something about that."

"Aw, Tommy."

"No. It'd be fun, but no. Besides, do you even want to attend the same college as me?"

"Hm… I want to be a scientist, you want to be a scientist, so any school that's good enough for you is good enough for me!"

Tommy laughed and shook his head. "Two mixed berry smoothies, Justin. Jason ought to arrive in a few minutes."

"Great," nodded Justin as he turned to prepare the smoothies in the array of silver machines on the counter behind the bar. "So I guess I should save my big news until he gets here, huh?"

"What big news, Justin?" Tommy perked up, but Justin shook his head firmly.

"Nuh-uh. Not until Jason gets here."

"Come on," the older teenager pleaded. "You're killing me here."

"Plenty of monsters have tried that and failed, Tommy. I think you can survive a piece of secret news for five minutes," he replied smugly.

But it was ten minutes before a black-haired young man in a red and white plaid shirt and black trousers skidded in. Out of breath he plopped down next to Tommy.

"Sorry I'm late, there was a hitch in the construction of the community center and one thing led to another and I'm sorry I'm late."

"It's cool, at least you got here," Tommy assured his best friend as he passed him his smoothie. Just as he slurped up some of his with a straw he commented, "Now Justin can tell us his big news."

"Okay," Justin smiled happily. The two older guys looked at him expectantly. Dramatically he inquired, "Last week guess who returned from Brazil?"

"Ernie!" they cried together excitedly. Looking around, Jason wondered, "Where is he?"

"At the courthouse, setting things up so that he and Jerome are co-owners. But guys, he asked me about Billy."

"Oh shoot. Now two of them will be on all our cases about Billy," winced Jason. "We can explain Kat, Aisha, and Tanya's absences, but how to explain Billy's?"

"Um, we could kidnap him from Aquitar and bring him back to Earth?" Justin suggested hopefully. Jason shook his head.

"He wouldn't let us. He's snug as a bug there in his lab."

"Maybe we could wean away ourselves from smoothies so that we don't have to deal with all the questions anymore," Tommy mulled to himself. Taking a big slurpful of smoothie, he shook his head.

"Nope. Too good to give up. So what are we going to do when they ask about Billy?"

"The truth would be nice," Jerome commented dryly from the doorway. Both he and Ernie were clad in Hawaiian shirts. Jumping up, Jason and Tommy greeted them.

"Hey, Jerome. Hi, Ernie. It's great to see you again."

"Just what Jason said- great to see you again, Ernie. It's been a long time."

"That it has," agreed Ernie as they came in. "Well, the paperwork has been completed. This place is now officially Ernie and Jerome's Juice Bar. We'll have to change the neon sign outside now…"

Jason and Tommy exchanged a look. Awkwardly Tommy began, "Is it just us, Ernie, or in the Amazon did you lose some weight?"

"Yes, I did. What do you think?"

"It looks good," Jason responded honestly. Hastily he continued, "Not that you didn't look good before, Ernie, but now, um, well…"

"It's okay. I understand a lot more than you think I do."

The knowing twinkle in not just Ernie's eyes, but Jerome's as well, had all three panicked. Justin and Tommy shot anxious looks at Jason, who told Ernie uneasily, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you?" smiled Jerome. Ernie chuckled.

"It's all right, guys. We know."

"Know what? There's nothing to know," insisted Justin with an extra-chirpy note to his voice. Ernie and Jerome seemed unconvinced.

"We have no idea what you're talking about," Tommy nodded edgily. Ernie rolled his eyes.

"It's pointless. I'm well aware of the fact, Tommy, that you started to hang out with Jason and his crew just after the Green Ranger became good. And that the six of you always wore a certain color that coordinated with a Ranger's color."

"And you left shortly after the Green Ranger stopped showing up in battles. And when you came back with a wardrobe in white the White Ranger had just shown up," Jerome continued. Nodding, Ernie resumed.

"Then Jason, Trini, and Zack left. I was concerned that I might have been wrong until Rocky, Aisha, and Adam 'replaced' them in your little group, each wearing a color of their predecessor. And those three Rangers' fighting styles altered drastically at this time. Then Kim left, and Kat 'replaced' her. Things got shifted around for Zeo, with Jason hanging around the same time the Gold Ranger was about, although Turbo stayed the same as Zeo-"

"Except Rocky left and Justin took his place."

"Except for Justin as the Blue Turbo Ranger," agreed Ernie. "When you four left for college, Justin got a new group of friends wearing the same colors. T.J., Cassie, Ashley, and Carlos. And Jerome tells me when Space rolled around T.J. became Blue with some new guy as Red and another new guy as Silver. Oh, and Carlos's color shifted from Green to Black for Space. Tell me if I got something wrong, but I don't think I did."

"Busted," Jason sighed under his breath. Out loud he acknowledged, "You hit the nail on the head, Ernie."

The two men exchanged high-fives. Hopefully Jerome commented, "Since we figured out that you're the Power Rangers, will Tommy cut his hair now?"

"No! How many times do we have to go over this! No, no, no, no, NO!"

"Hmph."

Ernie chuckled. "About time you all came clean. Can you all still morph or what?"

"We wish," Jason sighed. "But Earth's morphing grid is down. Terra Venture has a link to Mirinoi's morphing grid via the Quasar Sabers, so the Lost Galaxy Rangers can morph, and the Space Rangers might be able to temporarily access it to morph but the rest of us can't."

"Can't Billy fix it? The guy is a genius after all."

"Billy's on Aquitar, Jerome. That's like a couple galaxies away. Besides, it's more of a Power issue than a technology issue. Something is wrong with the morphing grid on Earth; we don't know what."

"Now that college is over for the year Jason and I were hoping to figure out what's wrong."

"Hang on. No offense meant, but a group of teenagers alone couldn't have saved the world. Surely you had a mentor or something to guide you."

"Zordon," nodded Jason sadly. Flatly Tommy added, "He's dead."

"We all miss him," sighed Justin, wiping absently at the bar. "But isn't anything possible when you're a Power Ranger? So maybe…"

"The issue is we're not Power Rangers anymore," Jason interrupted with a bitter smile. Tommy shrugged uncomfortably as he told the others, "I can still access my Ninjetti powers since they're linked to Phardos and not Earth, but that won't help."

"But if all six Rangers with Ninjetti powers, whatever those are, got together and did something couldn't that do something for Earth's grid?" wondered Jerome. Jason thought it over for a moment before nodding slowly.

"That could work, actually. A jolt to the system could get it up and running. I'm worried that some other ancient evil could break free and the Earth would be defenseless against them."

"Problem. That still involves Billy," Tommy observed just before slurping up the last of his smoothie. Jason smacked his forehead.

"Oh yeah… jeez, the one guy who lasted the entire Mighty Morphin era just has to be the one that goes and lives on another planet where we can't contact him."

"But since he and Kim have a telepathic connection surely Kim could give Billy the heads up to come to Earth," commented Justin with a smug smile. Jason and Tommy looked at the almost fourteen-year-old in shock. In tandem they demanded, "What telepathic connection?"

A few days later two red motorcycles pulled up in front of a spacious training gym in the airy, languid city of San Angeles. Underneath the matching red helmets were Jason and Tommy. The latter's hair was restrained by a white bandana that went with his white shirt and worn jeans while Jason wore a dark red leather jacket and jeans. With a heavy sigh he told Tommy, "We better go in."

"Right," Tommy nodded as he dismounted his motorcycle. Quietly the two young men entered the gym. Gymnasts were performing various acts throughout the giant room. Pointing, Tommy commented, "There she is."

"Good," Jason nodded as they walked over to a petite, pretty young woman in a pale pink unitard with her brown hair pulled back tightly into a ponytail on a balance bar. When she flipped elegantly off and made a perfect landing, the first thing she saw when she looked up was Jason and Tommy. She shot them a friendly smile.

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Not much," Tommy shrugged as Kim walked over to a bench and wiped her face off with a towel. Jason stuck his thumbs through his belt loops.

"But Justin mentioned something interesting the last time we were at the Juice Bar."

"Ernie's back!" she beamed as she picked up her pink see-through water bottle. "I heard. Isn't it great? I need to go over soon and say hi."

"Yes, but that wasn't what we wanted to talk about."

"What then?" she looked at them curiously as she sipped from her water bottle. Jason told her, "He said that you and Billy have a telepathic connection."

"Uh-huh. So?"

"So you didn't tell us we could contact the smartest Power Ranger via you!" Tommy complained. "We've been stressing out because we couldn't think of a way to get Earth's morphing grid functioning without Billy!"

"Well, I didn't know that," Kim defended herself. "I've been busy preparing for the next Pan-global Games and, and other stuff. So I actually have a life outside Power Rangers- sue me!"

"But you _do_ have a telepathic connection to Billy?" Jason asked. Kim rolled her eyes wearily.

"Yes."

"How did that happen?" Tommy puzzled. "Why didn't you two tell us?"

"Um, we were too embarrassed to. Remember how Billy's brain switching experiment went?"

Jason and Tommy nodded. Kim sighed, "So the two of us switched brains. It was not fun, trust me. But when we went back to normal, after a few weeks we realized that thanks to the experiment we could now communicate telepathically. We also could sometimes sense what the other's up to or what the other is feeling."

"So Billy knew whenever we kissed?" Tommy did not like that idea, even though he and Kim had been just friends for years. Kim smiled wryly.

"He didn't want to, but he did. On the flip side, I knew whenever he kissed someone. Small wonder both of us have been avoiding the dating scene."

"So how come Justin knew and we didn't?" Tommy frowned. Kim flushed guiltily.

"Let's just say I learned the hard way not to drink peach-apricot smoothies. They're as effective as a truth serum on me. Probably a side effect of the Power- you guys might have a certain smoothie like that too."

"Truth serum smoothies. My life is officially weird," Jason groused. Kim nodded sympathetically. "Tell me about it."

"So… could you give Billy a heads up and tell him we really, really need his help?" Tommy smiled hopefully. Kim playfully shoved him.

"Of course I will. I might have a life outside of Power Rangers, but I prefer my life inside Power Rangers."

"Thanks, Kim," Jason told her, relieved. "We'll leave you alone now."

As they walked off Tommy commented, "Actually, Jason, I figure that while we're in San Angeles we might as well visit Mr. Hartford. He's an archeology expert. I'd like his opinion on an artifact I found while on a dig. I brought it along just in case."

Kim shook her head, amused. Tommy was a great guy, but he was so single-minded. She was more… agile, she recalled how Dulcea of Phardos had described her after she had discovered her spirit animal. They wouldn't have been a good match romantically in the long term, but as friends they were just fine. Of course, it wasn't simply a matter of animal spirits; Tommy was still dating Kat, and she was a Crane spirit like Kim. Suddenly a familiar male presence entered her head, and she smiled.

_Hi, Billy._

_Hi, Kim. _

Closing her eyes, Kim mentally replayed the conservation she had had with Jason and Tommy for him. She could feel his acceptance before he consciously was aware of him.

_Great! How soon can I expect you?_

_But I haven't… you know me too well, Kim._

_That's the problem with telepathic connections, _she agreed gleefully. Spotting three yellow blurs coming her way, Kim told Billy, _The hyper trio are coming my way. See you tonight? Around dinnertime?_

_Count on it, _Billy promised before cutting off the link. Arms akimbo, Kim let the three young kids swarm around her. She knew that she should have let the other Rangers know that she was now a foster parent, but she didn't want to overwhelm the three kids with the Power Ranger subculture. The scariest thing about the subculture was that there were only nineteen of them in it, including Kim herself.

Two of the foster kids were ten and one was nine. The nine-year-old, Lily Chilman, had her blond hair with dark highlights pulled back in a ponytail and wore a yellow T-shirt and purple pants. Redheaded, freckled Charlie Thorn, who preferred to be called Chip, wore a yellow shirt, jeans, and a red superhero cape under his olive green backpack. Resignedly Kim noted the toilet plunger poking out of the backpack. Veronica 'Ronny' Robinson was the third and final kid. She had a lean build, a focused face, and dark gold hair in a single long plait down her back; she wore a yellow terry dress and battered sneakers. Smiling Kim asked them, "How did your morning at the library go?"

Once school had let out, the system was that the kids would spend the mornings at the library next to the gym while Kim trained while afternoons were spent together. Chip told her, "It was wicked. I found this really, really old book that's full of ancient heroes and legends. The name Zordon pops up a lot. That's a wicked name. I wish my name was Zordon, but Chip's a pretty wicked name too."

Kim's heart was pounding at this sudden mention of her beloved, deceased mentor but she kept her voice normal. "Maybe I could look at that book sometime?"

"Okay. The librarians let me have it since it's so old, so it's mine now."

"I got books on race cars," grinned Ronny, dumping the pile of said books on the floor. She pretended to be grasping a steering wheel and made engine noises as she ran around the area in a circle. Little Lily smiled happily at her full canvas bag.

"I got books about animals."

"And I checked out a book on plumbing."

Oh dear, Kim sighed to herself. Chip's hobbies invariably led to chaos. His and Ronny's attempt at being mechanics had resulted in her poor pink convertible blowing up and a trip to the emergency room.

"I got a kids' cookbook too, Kim. Could we make pizza tonight?"

"Sure, Lil. But we'll need to make extra."

"Yeah, 'cause I'm hungry!" shouted Ronny as she continued to race around. Kim shook her head.

"No, because a friend of mine is coming over tonight. I want you all to be relatively calm, all right?"

"That means no toilet plungers, no sticking my fingers in electric sockets, no pretending to be a wizard, no jumping off the roof, no jumping off the furniture, no blowing up _anything_, no pretending to be a monster, no trying to be a superhero, no elaborating on my theories about aliens, and no toilet papering stuff, right?"

"Right, Chip. Lily, no loud music while dancing or pretending to be a cat. Ronny- Ronny!" Kim repeated herself when Ronny just kept running. "Ronny!"

The girl screeched to a halt and looked over at her.

"Yeah?"

"No running, no pretending to be a race car, and no games. At all, clear?"

Whenever Ronny played a game, any game, she tended to get over competitive in her drive to win. Kim hadn't quite worked out how to break that habit. The girl let out a loud whoosh of breath.

"Fine," and she resumed pretending to be a race car. Kim just shook her head and took Lily's hand in her own, marveling again how small it was.

"Time to go home, guys."

"Yeah, home!" all three cheered, scooping up their belongings and raced towards the door. Kim laughed and gestured to her training outfit.

"I meant it was time to go home after I changed."

"Oh," Ronny grinned sheepishly. "We knew that."


	3. Chapter 3: Pizza Night

Why do you guys like this? This is an all but ancient fanfic of mine that literally got stopped mid-sentence (and rereading it, I can see that it might have been justified- I've gotten much better at writing PR stories since I wrote this). I am baffled. That's why I'm not even getting talkstoangels77 to edit this!

Worse, I don't even own Power Rangers! Still.

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><p><strong>Chapter Three: Pizza Night<strong>

That night, in Kim's snug house with its pink paneling and tan roof on the outskirts of the city, it was sheer chaos in the kitchen. Chip had insisted on using a toilet plunger (thankfully an unused one) to mix up the dough, while Ronny simply made a mess. Flour, cheese, and sauce all gravitated to the floor when the hasty girl was around. But Lily proved to be an able cook with a little supervision. Wearing a white apron with a pink floral pattern over her jeans and pink turtleneck sweater, Kim carried a pizza over to the oven. She warned the kids loudly, "Watch out, hot oven coming open!"

With an oven mitt she opened the oven door and slipped the first pizza in. Shutting the door, she let out a heave of relief.

"One pizza down, four more to go."

"Jelly bean pizza!" Chip insisted, despite all three girls' previous disapproval, clambering up onto the rose-pink counter below the cupboard containing the said jelly beans. Unfortunately his foot bumped into the half-full glass tomato sauce jar on the counter, making it crash onto the floor in dozens of pieces. Lumpy red sauce splattered everywhere. Chip stared down at the mess with wide chocolate brown eyes.

"Oops?"

"Oh Chip," Ronny sighed, but her lips were twitching. Lily giggled.

"Splat! It looks like lava."

"Yeah! Wicked!"

"Totally," grinned Ronny. Grabbing a fork she planted it into the mess and made it wiggle in distress.

"And here's an evil monster trapped in the lava. It'll be trapped in there for billions and billions of years until part of the treasure it seeks is found."

"Very wicked."

"Thank you," Ronny smiled in pleasure up at the boy looking down at her in rapt attention. Kim clapped her hands.

"As fun as trapping monsters in lava is-" (I don't think our adventure with Maligore was ever public knowledge though, Kim mulled to herself) "could we clean up this mess before someone gets hurt?"

"Okay," Chip nodded, reaching for the dish towel. Carefully Kim picked up the shards of glass with Ronny and Chip wiping up the sauce behind her. Lily continued to delicately sprinkle cheese over the next pizza to go into the oven. By the time the mess had been cleaned up it was time to take the first pizza out and put the second one in. As Kim shut the oven door she heard Chip's hopeful voice behind her.

"Can we make jelly bean pizza?"

Outside, a young man appeared in front of Kim's front yard in a shimmer of bright blue light. He had gold hair, a lean muscled build, and focused blue eyes. On his back was a stuffed navy blue backpack and he wore a long-sleeved blue shirt and jeans. Humming, he bounded up the porch steps and knocked on the front door. Inside Kim was getting out the third pizza, which Chip had made a chocolate chip pizza instead of a jelly bean pizza, so it was liberally sprinkled with dark brown smears. Puffing back a clump of brown hair from her face Kim told Ronny, "Could you go get the door please, Ronny? If it's a blond guy wearing blue it's my friend Billy."

"Sure!" Ronny replied as she ran off. Rolling her eyes Kim reminded her, "And remember, no running!"

Jumping up and down, Ronny tried to get a glimpse of the visitor through the small glass panes at the top of the door. Failing, she peered through the curtains. She then unlocked the door and opened it.

"Hi, I'm Ronny. You're Billy, right?"

"Right," he smiled. "Pleased to meet you, Ronny."

"Come on back, we're making pizzas," Ronny informed him just before running off. Billy followed at a more sedate pace. Rubbing off a smear of flour on her cheek Kim told Ronny wryly, "I thought I told you no running while we have company?"

"Oh yeah…"

"It's good to see you again, Kim."

"Good to see you too, Billy," Kim nodded, her heart a little unsteady. She had forgotten how handsome he was. The moment she thought it she felt waves of embarrassment radiating from Billy.

_What? It's the truth._

_Oh. Thank you_, Billy nearly blushed. Looking over Kim, he told her shyly, _You're even more beautiful than I remember._

Ronny demanded, "Uh, shouldn't you two be talking?"

"Billy's come a long way. I'm sure he needs some rest. We'll finish up the pizzas and you go sit on the couch."

"I can help," he assured her, slipping off his backpack. Ronny grumbled to Lily, "He's come a long way? It's not like he came all the way from another planet or something."

"That'd be wicked if he did. I'll ask him at dinner," Chip whispered to the girls. Ronny slapped her forehead.

"Where would Kim meet a guy from another planet, Chip? She's a gymnast, not a superhero!"

"Well… maybe he moved to another planet. Or Kim's an alien! Wicked! Our foster mom is an alien!"

"Aren't you worried that she might suck out our brains?" Ronny pointed out wryly, making Lily's eyes widen in fear. But Chip dismissed the notion.

"Our brains are too weird to be properly digested."

"What are you three talking about?" Kim asked as she put in the fourth pizza. Chip opened his mouth but Ronny promptly covered it.

"Just stuff."

"Okay then. The pizza-making is nearly done, so how about we clean up this mess?"

"Right," Billy nodded. "Come on, guys."

Everyone pitched in to clean up. Noting the slight red smears on the floor, Billy cocked an eyebrow at Kim.

"Accident with the tomato sauce?"

"I was going to make a jelly bean pizza but my foot bumped into the sauce jar," Chip explained. "Then everything went splat. Kind of like when Ronny and I tried to give Kim's car a hyper speed mode, except that was a much more louder splat."

"You blew up Kim's car?"

"With my help!" Ronny beamed. Kim sighed as she hung up her apron on a clothes hook. "Yes, and now we have to walk everywhere or take a bus, 'cause I haven't gotten around to buying a new one."

"Hey… maybe we could build a car, Ronny!"

"Yeah!"

"Please don't," Kim nearly whimpered. Mentally she told Billy, _Sometimes I think these three will drive me crazy!_

_I can see why_, Billy concurred as Ronny and Chip began to plot how to get car parts. Kim added, _But any _one_ of the things these three have done would have driven anyone else up the wall. As a former Power Ranger, I can handle it. Usually._

"So can we eat pizza now?" Lily asked hopefully. Kim smiled.

"Sure."

As they sat around eating pizza and drinking soda Chip asked a very odd question in a completely normal tone.

"Billy, did you come visit Kim's house all the way from another planet?"

In response Billy spat out his soda across the table. Gaping, he asked, "What?"

"Well, Kim said you came from a long way so –Ronny, stop kicking me- another planet is pretty far away."

"Uh…" Billy looked at the other end of the table, where Kim was at just as much of a loss. Smugly Chip said, "So you **are** visiting from another planet. Cut it out, Ronny. Now, which scenario is it? You're an alien Kim knows, or a human who moved to another planet, or Kim is an alien who moved to Earth. Ronny, stop it!"

"We're all humans at this table, Chip," Kim sighed. Sometimes she wished his hyper theories weren't so close to the truth.

"Oh. Okay. So Billy just moved to another planet then. Wicked. Which planet did you move to? I hear Eltar has a ton of wicked magic thingys, and several museums about their most famous citizen- Zordon! Sirius is full of dog-like warrior aliens. Wicked, huh? Phardos is a little risky; there's a terrible jungle guarding an awesome Power with a capital 'p' there. Ronny, could you please stop kicking me? But if you got on Dulcea's good side she might let you stay. Mercuria is like one big national park; very beautiful. And all the citizens are very helpful and friendly but you don't want to get on their bad side- then they'll kick your butt. Ronny! Stop kicking me! Elarians are super cute and super powerful and the whole planet is one gimorous jungle. Aquitar is very high tech but also possesses the very wicked Eternal Falls, which can restore youth. Hm, if I drank from them would I turn into a baby? Or even a negative like in Dahl's one book. Ronny! Kim, Ronny keeps kicking me!"

"Ronny," Kim shot the girl a look. "Now, Chip, where the heck are you getting all of this information?"

"Remember? The book the librarians gave me? It's all in there. Earth has a sizable entry. Heh-heh. Very wicked."

Chip looked over at Billy. "So?"

"I think you should not go there, Chip."

"But Kim-"

"I'll let Ronny kick you if you keep talking about this stuff."

"I'll try to jump off the school roof to check if I can fly yet if you don't let me talk about this."

"Oh brother."

"Okay, Chip," Billy grinned, holding a hand up towards Kim. "Yes, I moved to Aquitar as a young man for reasons I do not want to discuss and I'm here for a visit because some mutual friends of me and Kim need some help."

"Oh. Are they aliens?"

"Just two of them."

"Wicked."

"I'm officially freaked out," Lily told her slice of chocolate chip pizza before biting into it. Kim sighed to herself, _You haven't seen anything yet._

Billy's lips twitched.

"So… can we meet your friends?"

"No." Of that Kim was sure. "Your lives are complicated enough without getting involved in this mess. I'll probably have to go help. Rocky has a martial arts school on Mariposa Lane here in San Angeles… but Rocky's needed to help. Hm."

"We could leave them at the Juice Bar- Ernie and Jerome would love to have them," Billy suggested. Lily pouted.

"But we want to help with whatever you're doing!"

"It's too dangerous," Billy shook his head. "Maybe in a few years you three could help."

"Billy!"

"What? We were hardly in high school when we got sucked into this mess, just a few years older than them."

"True, but…"

"This is why we never told our parents," Billy smiled wickedly, causing Kim to blow a raspberry at him. Ronny snickered. Grabbing a slice of cheese pizza, Chip smiled in absolute bliss.

"I love pizza night, don't you guys?"


	4. Chapter 4: Starting Points

...

I don't know if it's because I don't own the Power Rangers or what but this isn't going as planned. You lot are supposed to agree with me that this is off the walls & has some canonical issues. O.O

Maybe you guys will get it after this chapter… crikey, my mind at that time is unfathomable even to me. Heck, my mind NOW is sometimes a very, very odd place to be. But I love it.

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><p><strong>Chapter Four: Starting Points<strong>

A few hours later, the kids were upstairs getting ready for bed. In the kitchen Kim was loading the dishwasher while Billy sat on the counter, swinging his legs back and forward.

"They're great kids, all three of them."

"Yeah, they are," Kim agreed as she slipped in a plate. "And their energy levels are being conducted in a much positive way now. Ronny's on a kids' soccer team and a kids' track team, Chip is taking archery and drawing lessons, and Lily is taking dancing and martial arts lessons."

Silently the three kids gathered just outside of the kitchen door. Chip was still wearing his red superhero cape as well as superhero pajamas; Ronny wore an oversized yellow shirt that came down to her knees; and Lily wore a two-piece set in yellow with brown spots. With a sigh Kim continued.

"I've never told you their back stories, have I?"

"No."

"Lily's parents were teenagers. The maternal grandmother took care of her for close to a year before she died. None of her other relatives wanted her or would let her parents raise her, so into the foster care system she went. Even as a one-year-old Lily was just a ball of energy. No one could keep up with her."

"She _is_ energetic."

"Chip's parents were former hippies, very laid back. They pretty much let Chip do as he pleased, thus the toilet plungers and the eternal wearing of the superhero cape."

"Ah."

"Then they were killed in a car crash just over a year ago. It broke him, judging from his profile. He just went haywire. Some thought he had AHAD or something like it. All the while he kept wanting to be a superhero; this entailed occasionally jumping off roofs to see if he could fly."

"Oh dear," Billy couldn't help but laugh. Kim smiled.

"Yeah, but he's serious about the whole superhero thing. He loves the Power Rangers."

The two shared a knowing look. Seriously Kim told him, "One day in May I found him after school, just sitting on the porch swing looking down at his feet. I had never seen him so still. It scared the heck out of me."

"It was the anniversary of his parents' death."

"Yeah," Kim sighed. She knew Billy would instantly get the connection, and had felt him make it. Continuing she said, "He really misses them."

In the doorway, Chip's eyes were wet. Ronny squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.

"I haven't told him… but I'm jealous of him in a way. He loves his parents so much. I've never really been close to my dad, and my mom and I kind of parted ways after she moved to France."

_I know_, Billy got off the counter and began to massage her shoulders. Out loud he asked, "And what about Ronny?"

"Her story is a real tear-jerker. Her dad, a security guard, died during a bank robbery before she born, and the mom had a breakdown after that. Became a drug addict. At some point it was realized by the neighbors that Ronny hadn't ever gone to school and she was six. They called Social Services. She used to be such a tough nut, but she's really loosened up. I think her drive to always win comes from a subconscious need to not be a failure like her mother."

"Plausible," Billy kept rubbing her shoulders, which were gradually relaxing. Shaking her head side to side, Kim sighed, "I love all three of them."

"I can see why. After a few hours with them, I'm half in love with them myself. They're great kids."

"Uh-huh," Kim replied, enjoying the feel of Billy's hands on her shoulders. "You can stay here tonight, on the couch in the living room."

"I'd enjoy that."

"Tomorrow we can contact Jason and see what the plan is."

"Right," Billy nodded, leaning down slightly to just barely brush his lips against Kim's cheek. "How about I finish up here and you go check on the kids?"

"Okay, thanks."

Panicked the trio scrambled up the stairs and into their beds, trying their best to be silent. Still dazed from Billy's massage Kim didn't hear them. One by one she peeked into their rooms and wished them good-night. Knowing better than to pretend to be asleep they answered in the same. Flicking off the hall light Kim headed back down to the kitchen, where Billy was just closing the dishwasher. Her heart gave a jump.

_We're acting like a married couple._

_Are we?_ Billy looked over his shoulder at her. _Is that such a bad thing?_

_I don't know. _Kim stared at him. _I don't think so._

_Good, _he smiled, walking over to her. _May I?_

A new need was awakening in Kim, one she hadn't been aware of before. One she couldn't deny. Shyly she rested her slender hands on his shoulders. Gently she rose up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips on his.

This first kiss was slow, testing, warm. Gradually Kim twined her arms around Billy's neck and he rested his broad, gentle hands on her hips. When they pulled apart they looked at one another for a long time, uncertain.

_What are we doing, Billy?_

_I don't know. Something's changing between us, isn't it?_

_Yes. Or maybe we're just becoming aware of something that was there all along and we haven't noticed it before, _Kim pointed out the other possibility. Shyly Billy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

_Whatever's happening between us, I like it._

_Same here, _Kim replied, her heart pounding. She could have been much more afraid but she could sense that Billy's heart was pounding too. _We're on the same page, whatever it is._

_Precisely. I suppose we should go to bed now. _Realizing what he had thought, Billy flushed. _I meant-_

_I know what you meant. We have a telepathic connection, remember? I'll go get you a blanket from the upstairs linen closet, all right?_

_All right. Thank you, Kim._

By the time Kim had returned downstairs with a light blue blanket, Billy was sprawled out on the beige couch, sound asleep. Smiling, she tucked him in. Running a hand through his thick hair she whispered softly, "Good night, Billy. I hope you have sweet dreams tonight."


	5. Chapter 5: The Cavalry Comes

Okay, either I am selling my older writing skills short or… or I don't know what! I am surprised & grateful for all the good reviews...

Disclaimer: Didn't own Power Rangers when I wrote this, and don't own them now.

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><p><strong>Chapter Five: The Cavalry Comes<strong>

Up in the forested mountains was the secluded city of Briarwood, a bridge between two areas. With the stars twinkling overhead, all was quiet. In a spacious home in a neat suburb, twin nine-year-old sisters Vida and Madison Rocca were sleeping in their bedroom. Vida had her rough black hair in a pageboy, and was snug under beige blankets. Madison's silky black hair went nearly all the way down her back and slept under mermaid patterned blankets and on a pillow in a case with a matching mermaid pattern. Suddenly the phone began to ring, shattering the silence.

Blearily Vida sat up. Still half-asleep she rolled out of bed, revealing her orange shorts and brown shirt, and headed downstairs. She was just barely able to reach up and get the hall phone off its hook. Placing the phone next to her ear she yawned a greeting.

"Hi, Vida!"

"Chip, it's," Vida looked over at the grandfather clock in the hall, "one o'clock in the morning. Why are you calling me?"

"Um, because I think I'm going to go on an adventure and I want you to come too!"

"An adventure?" Vida scratched her nose tiredly, wondering how on Earth her best friend managed to sound so peppy this late at night. "What kind of adventure?"

"A wicked one. What other kind of adventure is there?"

"An imaginary one," Vida yawned, and she started to hang up the phone.

"No! Wait! It involves a guy who moved to another planet and Kim's mysterious friends!"

Vida was aware that Chip, Ronny, and Lily had never met any of Kim's friends, so she sighed, "Kim's finally going to let her friends meet you three. And?"

"No! She's not!" hissed Chip, huddled behind a counter with the wireless phone in hand. "She and Billy –that's the guy who moved to another planet and I know 'cause he admitted it- are going to drop us off at some place called the Juice Bar while they go help their friends!"

"Why won't she let you come along?" Vida figured that the Billy guy had just pulled Chip's leg with the whole other planet thing, but the fact that Kim was keeping her foster kids away from her friends got her inner alarm bells ringing as loudly as the phone had been in the silent house.

"I don't know!" Chip wailed. "She says she doesn't want us to get involved but it's more than that, I know it."

Something was up, Vida was certain now. Chip might have an active imagination, but it wasn't an _over_active imagination. If he said something fishy was going on, she believed him.

"Okay, okay," Vida comforted him but before she could say anything else she spotted Madison coming down the stairs. Cupping a hand over the speaker she told her sister, "Go back to bed. It's just Chip."

But Madison simply sat on the second to bottom step. Her soft brown eyes sleepy she inquired, "Why he is calling so late?"

"It's Chip," Vida hedged. Madison just plunked her head into her hands so Vida let out a heavy breath.

"His foster mom is going to do something that has him freaking out. He wants us to come to San Angeles."

"Chip doesn't freak over nothing. We should go."

"I just decided that," Vida nodded, removing her hand from the phone. She informed Chip, "Madison and I will come. Maybe our parents will take us for a visit."

Chip heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks, V. I owe you one."

"You sure do," she agreed with a yawn. "Now good night."

And Vida hung up the phone. Rising, Madison sighed, "I hope Mom and Dad will be okay with this."

...

Surprisingly, they were. But there was a catch, and Mr. Rocca explained it as he emptied the dishwasher the next morning as his daughters ate their breakfasts of cereal and milk.

"There's a new employee at my workplace, Mr. Bly. He's from Australia, and he and his family moved here just after New Year's. He has a son Chip's age, Xander. He goes to Goodfellow Elementary School, not Celadon Elementary School like you two. Anyway, Xander hasn't received a warm welcome due to his accent. I know you girls and Chip won't care about it. Mr. Bly needs to make a conference trip to San Angeles today as a matter of fact, so if you agreed to let Xander come too I don't see why you can't go."

Mr. Rocca was unaware that Kim was unaware of this impending visit, so the two girls headed up to their room to pack their bags.

On the other side of the city, in a fair-sized house that still smelled faintly of paint, a handsome light brown-haired man in a business suit rapped on the doorframe to his son's room.

"Hey, Xander."

"G'day, Dad," replied the young boy with an Australian accent sprawled across the bed. He had chocolate brown hair and charming features. "I hope you have a good time on your business trip."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually."

"Your bosses don't want you to go because the executives might think you talk funny?" Xander fretted, making his father's heart ache a little.

"No. My friend from work, Mr. Rocca, has two daughters just a bit younger than you who want to visit a friend that's your age in San Angeles. He wonders if the three of you would want to visit the friend."

"Will they make fun of my accent?"

"I don't think so," Mr. Bly assured his son. "From what I've heard, one daughter is too nice to tease you while the other might look at you strangely for a moment but she'll adjust pretty fast."

"And the friend?"

"Um… Mr. Rocca informed me that the friend has too many quirks of his own to pay much attention to how you talk. But he has two foster sisters; I don't know how they'll react but they'll probably be nice, particularly since you're their guest."

"Well… okay," Xander sat up. "It'd be nice to have friends again. How long will I be there?"

"Just a week or so, so better pack your bags. The plane leaves in an hour," Mr. Bly smiled as he went back into the hall. His son was a highly social person, but kids could be so hard on anyone the least bit different than them. On the other hand, so could adults sometimes.

…

In Kim's house, Billy was just waking up. Sleepily he sat up and rolled up his blanket just as Chip came down the stairs just as tiredly. Billy noted with amusement that his orange T-shirt was on backwards due to the fact that the tag was sticking out towards his chin, although Chip had been awake enough to tie on his superhero cape. Yawning, Chip walked over to the electric socket and stuck his finger in it for a moment; just long enough for a quick burst of electricity to race over him.

Now wide awake, the boy bounded into the kitchen. More than a little concerned Billy tapped into a sleepy Kim's mind.

_Does Chip usually stick his finger into an electric socket to wake up?_

_Just when he's sleepy._

_Your practical tone concerns me, Kim._

_It's Chip._

_True_, Billy conceded. _Any more peculiar habits I should be aware of?_

_Yes, but they're too numerous to list between the three of them. Look, remember when you said that with Power Rangers, everything is normal?_

_Yes…_

_Well, that rule applies to these three as well. Now excuse me, I need to get dressed._

_Oh. Right. Want me to make breakfast?_

_You don't have to, Billy. You're the guest._

_It's fine, _he assured her as he rose from the couch. _You gave me a free place to sleep and a fun dinner last dinner; it's the least I can do._

_Okay then. Thank you. Be down in a minute._

Once in the kitchen, Billy got out a pan, a metallic bowl, a whisk, a hefty bag of pancake mix, and a spatula. He asked Chip as he stirred the water and mix together in the bowl, "What kind of pancakes do you like?"

"Chocolate chip. But I also think marshmallow pancakes are wicked."

"Hm… what if I put chocolate chips, marshmallows, and graham cracker crumbs into the mix to make s'mores pancakes?"

Chip stared at Billy worshipfully.

"Kim was right. You **are** a genius."

This praise made Billy blush and comment, "Thank you, Chip."

As Billy flipped the third pancake Kim ambled into the kitchen, dressed in a sleeveless pink turtleneck and white jeans. For a moment she just watched Billy, barefoot, wearing clothes rumpled from sleep, and his face rough with stubble, watching the pancake intently. She padded over and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Hi," she greeted him, going on tippy-toes in order to kiss his pleasantly scratchy cheek. "Thanks, Billy. You really didn't have to."

"It's fine."

Tentatively sniffing the two cooked pancakes on the plate on the counter, Kim puzzled, "What kind of pancakes are these?"

"S'mores pancakes!" Chip declared happily. "Can I have one yet?"

"Sure; there's two on the plate," Kim informed him. Chip got them faster than lightening. First he cut the two pancakes into pieces; then he bit into one of the pieces. His eyes widened in bliss.

"Kim, can Billy live here forever and ever?"

"Um…"

"Good morning!" Kim was saved from answering by Lily's bouncy entrance. Eying the girl's pajamas Kim pointed at the door.

"Go get dressed, Lily. And comb your hair!"

Lily ruffled her unruly hair unhappily. Then she spotted Billy placing the pancake on a second plate and brightened up.

"We're having pancakes for breakfast?"

"Only for people who get dressed and comb their hair," Kim informed her. Lily charged back upstairs. When she returned several minutes later it was with hair in a neat ponytail and in a yellow dress, as well as accompanied by Ronny, who also had her hair in a loose ponytail but wore jeans and a black T-shirt.

"Hey, Billy." Ronny noted how close Kim and Billy were standing together. "Did you sleep on the couch last night or with Kim?"

"RONNY!"

"It's a valid question," she grumbled as she sat down at the table. Chip raised his hand.

"Just curious: what's so bad about Billy sleeping with Kim? It's just sleeping; it's not like they're kissing or anything."

"Yeah," nodded Lily. Ronny looked at them, then at Kim.

"I'm not going to explain it. You do it; you're their foster parent."

"I'll explain later, and yes Billy slept on the couch. Sheesh!"

"How about we not discuss this anymore and I just make pancakes for everyone?"

"What kind of pancakes?" Ronny asked warily. Chip showed her the few remaining pieces of his pancakes.

"S'mores pancakes."

Ronny eyed Billy's back. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

As they cleared their plates, Kim spoke to the trio.

"Okay, guys. We'll be leaving for Angel Grove-"

"Not today!" Chip panicked. Before getting on the plane Vida had called to say that she and Madison and some guy named Xander wouldn't arrive until three or four in the afternoon. Kim rolled her eyes.

"No, Chip, not today. Tomorrow."

Chip relaxed as Kim continued. "I checked with Ernie and Jerome at the Smoothie Bar, and they said they'd love to have you. Please don't cause any trouble for them. Please?"

"We won't," Lily promised as she dumped her plate into the sink, squealing when soap suds got on her. She smiled up at Kim. "We promise."

"Thank you," Kim leaned down and hugged her tight. Standing back up she told the trio, "We need to pack up; you all will probably be staying at the Juice Bar for a couple of weeks."

"Maybe months," Billy murmured to himself. Ronny saluted Kim.

"Okay! Chip, Lil- move out!"

Her ponytail swinging, she ran out of the kitchen and pounded up the stairs. Billy shook his head in amusement.

"Ronny doesn't walk anywhere, does she?"

"Not when she can run," Kim agreed. Scratching his rough chin, Billy commented, "Could I use the bathroom to get changed and to shave, Kim?"

"Sure; it's right between the front door and kitchen in the hallway."

Nodding his thanks, Billy grabbed his backpack from its spot next to the couch and headed to the bathroom. Cheerily Kim wrapped up the kitchen clean-up before starting to unload the dishwasher. It was a sunny morning, she had just had a yummy breakfast, the kids were happy, she was going to save the world once again, and Billy was around. Mentally she commented to Billy, _I'm actually glad that we get to save the world again. Am I messed up or what?_

_You're not messed up, Kim. The two of us as well as our friends are simply aberrations to the norm because we are the elite._

_The elite?_

_Yes, well, I haven't tested this theory yet but it seems to me that a person must have something special about them to channel the Power._

_That does make sense. Billy, do you have any idea why the morphing grid has failed?_

There was only silence in reply.

With their short attention spans it took the kids all morning to pack their bags. Billy kept them out of serious mischief while Kim went off to get in a last bit of training. All the while Billy kept thinking about Kim's question; what could have shut down the morphing grid? The Machine Empire as well as the United Alliance of Evil had been defeated; Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, and Divatrix were now good. There was no dark force strong enough that currently existed to shut down the morphing grid. Perhaps the Underworld… but that had been sealed away thirteen years ago.

"Thirteen is a traditionally unlucky number associated with magic, like the Underworld," Billy thought out loud. "But typically even numbers result in the release of evil. Ten thousand, three thousand, six thousand. The Underworld will probably be still locked away long after I'm dead. In any case, it's not the Underworld. But who then?"

"Who did what?" asked Chip as he slid down the banister. Billy caught him just in time. Throwing the boy into the air, Billy told him, "Bit of a daredevil, aren't you?"

"No. A bit of a superhero."

"Ah," Billy put Chip down. "Are you done packing?"

"Uh-huh. I packed my comic books, my toilet plungers, my action figures, my snacks, my drawing pads, my colored pencils, my books on how to identify and catch all kinds of monsters, my big book on magic stuff the librarians gave me…"

"What about clothes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a bath towel?"

"Oh, yeah. I knew I forgot something."

And Chip rushed back up the stairs. Billy just chuckled.

Once Kim came back, they all had PB&J sandwiches and apples for lunch. Then everyone went back upstairs. While the kids wrapped up their packing, Kim started on hers. Leaning against the doorway, Billy surveyed her room.

The walls were a faint pink and the floor consisted of warm cherry wood panels. The frothy curtains which let in the light were a rich magenta hue and there was an elaborately carved, fairly large wardrobe adjacent to the door leading to the bathroom. In the center of the room was a queen-sized bed, neatly made with bright pink pillows a cozy-looking pink and lavender quilt, on which Kim dumped her pink and black duffel bag. Biting her tongue, she stared down at it.

"Hm... what to pack?"

"Casual sounds about right," Billy observed idly. "Since the odds are we'll come up against some villain in the process of fixing the morphing grid."

"Very true," Kim rolled her eyes as she walked over to the wardrobe and opened the double doors. Searching through the hung and folded clothes in it, she added with a grin, "There's always a villain lurking in the shadows when we and our friends decide to do _anything_."

Billy laughed, then his grin changed as he watched Kim bend over to get at something in the back of the wardrobe. Hastily she stood back up and wheeled around. Her cheeks flushed, she demanded, "Were you looking at my butt, Billy?"

"Um... yes. Sorry."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why were you looking at my butt?"

"I'm not sure... it is a cute bottom though."

Kim clamped her hands to the mentioned area.

"You think my butt is cute?"

"Well, as cute as the rest of you," Billy informed her awkwardly. This was a rather uncomfortable discussion, especially after their kiss the previous night. Equally embarrassed, Kim grabbed a pile of clothes and carried it over to the bed. Carefully she began to refold them and place them within the duffel bag; however Billy noted that her hands were shaking and her thoughts were all jumbled up. Taking a step towards, he asked worriedly, "Did I bother you? I am sorry; I didn't mean to look at your butt, it just kind of happened."

"Um, I think it's okay."

_I liked it!_

Billy heard this thought fly to the surface. Half-hopefully he commented, "So you aren't upset?"

"No..." trailed off Kim, stroking the quilt with one hand. Suddenly a very intense, very graphic image formed in her mind which Billy witnessed. He stepped closer.

"Kim..."

"Okay... guess we're even now," Kim took in a shaky breath. Hesitantly Billy reached out and touched her cheek. She just looked up at him with wide, bright brown eyes. Slowly Billy leant down and kissed her.

Like their first kiss, it was soft and gentle, but there was more warmth to it this time. Pulling back, Billy smiled wobbily.

"Well."

Kim nodded and seemed ready to speak when a tan minivan pulled out to the sidewalk in front of Kim's house with a screech. Vida, Madison, and Xander bounded out with their backpacks. Mr. Bly honked the horn, waved at his son, and drove away because he was late to his conference.

Open-mouthed Kim marveled, "Who are they?"

"I have no idea."


	6. Chapter 6: Unexpected Company

Confession time: I don't own Power Rangers, and at the end I skimp out on the descriptions of… well, you'll see. Also, this is probably the most surreal chapter. Yeah… o.O This was clearly written in between Jungle Fury and RPM.

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><p><strong>Chapter Six: Unexpected Company<strong>

Kim and Billy stepped onto the front porch as the time the three kids did. Arms akimbo the former demanded, "Who are you?"

"Oh boy, Chip either forgot to tell you or decided not to tell you," Vida rolled her eyes. Then she eyed Kim's outfit. "Probably the second option 'cause you're wearing pink."

"What's wrong with pink?" Now Kim was angry instead of annoyed. Madison whispered, "Vida!"

"Oh," Kim groaned in understanding. "You're Vida Rocca, Chip's best friend from Briarwood and that's your sister Madison. But who's the boy?"

"Xander. He was our ticket here."

Xander looked perplexed at the concept of being a ticket. Billy noted that he looked a bit like a young Tommy. Adjusting the straps on her backpack Vida informed Kim, "We're coming with you guys to wherever you're dumping off Chip and his sisters. So if you don't like it, too bad."

Then Vida stomped into the house. Kim looked over at Billy.

_Why do I like her? I shouldn't, but I do._

_You have to admire her spunk,_ he agreed. Looking at Madison and Xander he told them, "Would you two like to come in?"

"Yes, please," Madison nodded. As the foursome went inside she apologized, "I didn't know Chip hadn't told you we were coming, Ms. Hart. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Madison. Although I am going to have to talk to Chip about this."

Hearing an angry Vida yelling from upstairs, Kim tilted her head.

"Or Vida is doing that for me."

"Crikey," Xander muttered. "No one is going to care about how I talk with this chaos going on!"

"Hey, you're from Australia, like Billy's and my friend Kat," Kim noted with surprise. Xander smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah."

"Cool."

Ronny and Lily ran down the stairs.

"Kim, who the heck is that girl upstairs yelling at Chip for not telling you that she was coming?"

"Vida, his friend from Briarwood. This is Vida's twin Madison and their friend Xander. Be nice to them Ronny."

"Hey, I'm always nice!"

Kim rubbed her temples. This so wasn't the time to deal with domestic disputes between kids.

_Want me to go deal with it?_

_No thanks, Billy. I can handle it; besides, Chip's my foster kid._

And so Kim trudged upstairs where Vida's yelling had only increased in decibel. Billy looked at the small swarm of kids surrounding him. He scratched the back of his head.

"Do any of you know how to play hide and seek?"

…

Out in the desert, there was an underground archeological dig set up in a mountain. The work day had ended, and under the lavender sky a family of three was eating a picnic dinner. Cordero Fernandez, a lanky Hispanic man with fluffy black hair and tawny skin, reached out for a ham and cheese sandwich.

"Your mom and I uncovered some Stegosaurus bones today. Want to see them tomorrow before work starts up again, Trent?"

"Sure!" grinned their twelve-year-old son, who took after his father. Mohala Fernandez smiled happily.

"They're so amazing, Trent. I can't wait for you to see them! They're the most incredible things I've ever seen!"

Cordero laughed loudly, and it echoed throughout the rising mountains. His slight Hawaiian-descent wife arched an eyebrow at him.

"What is it, Cordero?"

"Nothing, Mo. It's just I've seen two even more incredible things."

"What?"

"You and Trent."

With a broad smile Trent told his mother, "Papa's got you, there, Mom!"

"Men!" Mohala sniffed haughtily, but her dark brown eyes were twinkling. Cordero leaned over and kissed her soundly, causing Trent to make the required gagging noises. Cordero ruffled his son's hair, which was so much like his own.

"Ingrate, ruining my romantic moment with my wife!"

"Sorry, Papa," Trent grinned. As she grabbed a handful of potato chips, Mohala spotted someone approaching. She waved.

"Hello, Mr. Mercer."

"Hello, Mohala. Hello, Cordero. And hello, Trent," smiled the head of the archeological dig as well as the source of its funding. The Caucasian man was dressed impeccably in a cloud grey suit and silver tie. His slightly graying dark blonde hair was neatly combed, and his black Oxfords were still shining despite the desert dust. In contrast, the elder two Fernandez's were dressed in khaki pants, white T-shirts, and worn hiking boots while Trent wore black capris, a tan T-shirt, and dust-covered sneakers. Mr. Mercer smiled at the trio.

"I hope you three are celebrating the Stegosaurus find today. It is quite magnificent."

"Not as magnificent as my family!" Cordero beamed. Mr. Mercer suddenly looked a tad wistful.

"Nothing is as magnificent as a family, you're right Cordero."

Mohala offered kindly, "Would you like to have dinner with us, Mr. Mercer?"

"No, no, I can't intrude. Besides, I ate earlier. But thank you for the offer. Oh, wait. Cordero, Mohala; in a few days three college students will be coming to help out as interns. Their names are _ , Smitty, and Thomas Oliver. The last's records seem to be most promising, although his hair is as long as Mahala's!"

This rare joke from their boss got smiles from all three. Mahala's hair was in a sleek black braid that went all the way down her back. She swiped at it jokingly as she grinned, "Maybe we could trade hair secrets!"

Trent snickered. Looking at the boy, Mr. Mercer asked curiously, "And while your parents work, what do you do, Trent?"

"I… I explore, I read comic books, I draw my own, I clean up our site. If the dig's during the school year I have to study."

"Of course. Well, I hope you three have a lovely night."

With that Mr. Mercer walked off. That night, lying on his bedroll in his tent, Trent listened to his parents talk in the tent next to his.

"It's so sad, Mo. His fiancée died years ago- cancer I think. He's never gotten over her, really."

"I hope he moves on sometime. Don't take this the wrong way, Cordero, but you died I wouldn't mourn you forever. I'd have to move on sometime. But don't take this to mean that you can die any time you want."

"Same goes for you."

The two shadows on Trent's tent wall merged together. With a heavy sigh Trent crawled outside, clad only in black shorts. With ease he climbed up to the top of the nearby cliff. Dangling his feet off the edge, Trent lied down and stared up at the shining stars. He heard footsteps behind him, but didn't react until he heard Mr. Mercer's voice.

"Hello, Trent. Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Yes," he admitted, rising up to support himself on an elbow. "But I'm not sleepy."

"What if your parents check on you?" Mr. Mercer asked, sitting down next to Trent. The boy smiled one-sidedly.

"They're a tad busy right now. I still don't know whether living in tents is an advantage or a disadvantage."

"Oh dear," Mr. Mercer threw back his head and laughed. "Oh dear."

"Mr. Mercer?"

"Yes?"

"Could I ask you something?"

"I suppose so." Mr. Mercer looked into the boy's eyes steadily. "What is it?"

"Do you believe in true love?"

"I… I what?"

Trent squirmed uncomfortably. "You know. The kind you read about in fairy tales. The forever and ever love."

"Huh." Mr. Mercer leaned back to gaze up at the stars. He was silent for a moment, then he spoke.

"I think I do. There are many kinds of love out there, Trent. True love is rare, but I suppose it really does happen to a lucky few. Another kind of love might not be true love, but it'll last a lifetime. That's the type of love your parents share- that's the type of love my Darcy and I had. But part of me still wants to be one of those lucky few who finds true love."

"Me too," Trent nodded. "But only when I'm older. When I'm a hundred percent sure girls don't have cooties."

"That sounds like a plan," Mr. Mercer forced back a laugh, knowing the boy was perfectly serious. "Yes, that sounds like a plan to me."

The two sat there on the cliff for a long time, watching the stars and wishing on each and every one. Further out in the desert, a man hung from shackles in the center of an abandoned town. He had bright red hair streaked with grey, and a matching beard. His attire was a white shirt with puffy long sleeves, a long gold-orange tunic that fell to his ankles, and leather sandals. A monstrous, biped form approached him.

"General Venjix, self-proclaimed heir to the tatters of the Machine Empire. What do you want?"

"You are the Oracle," the General growled. "You know what has been, what is, and what will be. Tell me-"

"Did I not give you your answer months ago!" the Oracle yelled in bitter grief. "I told the truth- your infant Venjix Network would come closer than any other villain to claiming the Earth but that the R.P.M. Rangers would halt you."

"And so we found a way to shut down the morphing grid," General _ observed. "But the former Rangers are going to seek a way to revive it, and we have underestimated them one too many times. We need your help."

"Never."

When General Venjix opened his mouth, the Oracle smiled tiredly.

"You can not threaten me with the deaths of children this time, General. Whether I help you or not, innocent children will die."

Suddenly he frowned, and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were a more vivid teal than before.

"Very well. I shall revive the minions of teams past, present, and future if you let me go after I do so."

"He himself can do nothing," commented a slender, warrior-like woman in a sleek black leather uniform. "That the Tribunal declared it so at the first Council. Why not let him go?"

"You will revive the minions?" General Venjix questioned. When the Oracle nodded, he seemed satisfied.

"Then begin- with a hundred per Ranger on the team they fought, fight, or will fight!"

Taking a deep, sorrowful breath the Oracle veiled himself in a gleaming teal light and began.

"First come 600 Putties."

"Then come 300 of the Z Patrol."

"Next are 100 Tenga Warriors."

"100 Cogs."

"600 Piranhatrons."

"700 Sting Warriors."

"600 Batlings."

"600 Cyclobots."

"600 Putrids."

"600 Kelzacks."

"500 Tyranndrones."

"300 Krybots, 300 Bluehead Krybots, and 300 Krybots."

"400 Hidiacs and 400 Styxoics."

"300 Chillers and 300 Lava Lizards."

"500 Rin Shi."

"700 Grinders."

General Venjix spun in a circle, admiring the thousands and thousands of mindless minions that were now his to command. Smugly he broke the chains that bound the Oracle.

"Go."

But first the Oracle had one final prophecy.

"I warn you; by calling upon the minions of all the teams you just might call into action all the teams."

General Venjix smiled coldly and gestured to his new, massive army.

"Then I'll just let them have some unexpected company, won't I?"

Grimly the Oracle vanished in a shimmer of teal light.


	7. Chapter 7: Nightmares

You all are going to loathe me because this is where (for now) the story shall end, I just know it. Yep, this is as far as I got. Well, maybe I'll add the prologue for kicks. But odds are this is where this particular story will end.

Power Rangers are Haim Saban's, not mine.

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Nightmares<strong>

The next morning everyone went to the San Angeles train station, which had been heavily influenced by Spanish architecture. As they waited for the train the kids formed a train line and went around the largely empty station making chugging noises with Ronny as the locomotive and Madison as the caboose. Kim smiled at them.

"Aren't they cute?"

"Yes," Billy smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Kim, I had a thought last night."

"I know, but you wouldn't let me see it."

"Sorry," he apologized, tugging her closer. "I wanted to make sure I was right. Remember February 2nd, 1986?"

"We had a snow day," Kim smiled, leaning against Billy. Suddenly she looked up at him. "But wasn't it in early 1986 that the Underworld was sealed away in the magical dimension?"

"Yes. Think about it, Kim- it snowed in so many places that day, some of them not even close to one another. Angel Grove was just on e of them. I'm going to keep an eye on the other cities- San Angeles being one of them."

"Why?"

"They could be places where Power Rangers shall be needed."

"Incredible," Kim mulled to herself as the train pulled into the station. Hastily the kids put their backpacks on and they boarded the train. Finding an empty car they occupied it. As the morning and scenery flew by, Kim found herself growing sleepy. Pulling out a pink blanket, she tucked herself in and flew asleep in her seat by the window as the kids played Go Fish and Billy read a scientific magazine.

_She was somewhere; she didn't know where. A Pink Ranger was fighting a monster alone, and losing. Even though she was clad in her Ranger uniform Kim could also see the woman underneath- a slender Caucasian with dishwater blond hair, crisp brown eyes, glasses, and a kind smile although she wasn't smiling right now. Then the monster struck again. The Pink Ranger fell, fading into pink light…_

Gasping, Kim sat straight up. It was now mid-afternoon, judging from the candy bar wrappers surrounding the sleeping kids and the angle of the light. Next to her Billy was fretful, and stroked her hair away from her face.

_Kim, what happened?_

_A nightmare, that's all. When will we come to Angel Grove?_

_About ten at night. If you want we could break the trip into two. You seem shaken._

_I am. A Pink Ranger died in my nightmare._

_Oh sweetheart_, and Billy wrapped a warm arm around her. With a shuddering breath Kim climbed into his lap.

_Could you just hold me for a while? I need it._

_Sure, Kim._

And Billy held her close for the rest of the trip.

…

"I don't know if this is such a good idea," muttered a broad man with dark skin in a steel grey martial arts uniform whose bald head was topped by a peaked hat that matched his uniform. The slender teenager next to him rolled his crisp almond-shaped eyes behind a pair of wire frame glasses as the duo waited at the train station adjacent to the ocean in the city of Blue Bay Harbor. Suddenly he spotted something in the distance.

"Father…"

"I know, I know. It is a great honor for you to attend this camp. Few get to attend. But Angel Grove is so far away!"

"Father…"

"Couldn't you find a computer class closer to here?"

"Father…"

"I mean, what's wrong with the computer camps here?"

"Father…"

"Is this your way of rebelling because I won't train you as a ninja? Well, I'm sorry Cam but I will not train you as one. And furthermore-"

"Father! The train is coming! Good-bye!" Cam pointed at the train, which was now pulling in. The man looked surprised.

"So it is. Now call me every hour, Cam. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Every hour? Are you sure you don't want me to call every minute?" Cam commented caustically. To his horror, his father looked thoughtful.

"Could you do that?"

"How about every morning when I wake up and every night just before I go to sleep so I might actually do something at the camp?"

"I suppose so."

He hugged his son tightly. After a moment Cam returned the hug, but then he pulled back formally, picking up his green duffel bag.

"Farewell," he nodded, jumping onto the train. Taking a seat by the window, Cam waved good-bye until the station was out of sight. With a deep sigh he leaned back into his seat. Then, above him, the cell phone in his duffel bag began to ring. Running a hand through his silky black hair Cam began to laugh, picturing his father on the train station, the phone in his ear. But well aware his father had a genuine fear of losing him as he had his mother Cam reached up and pulled out the cell phone. Flipping it open, he grinned, "Miss me already, Father? I thought most parents wanted their teenaged children out of the house!"

"Cam? How are you doing?"

"I hadn't decided when you called."

"It's not too late for you to come back."

"Yes it is," Cam informed his father gently. "See you in three weeks, Father."

"But Cam-"

He had already hung up, and tucking the phone into his pocket, Cam relaxed in his seat to watch the landscape go by, unaware that in the car behind him were two ninjas and a group of kids.

The stars were hidden behind a curtain of clouds when the train pulled into Angel Grove. Everyone disembarked. Noticing that a petite brunette woman was having trouble carrying a pink duffel bag and a fat yellow backpack Cam grabbed the backpack.

"Here, ma'am. Er, isn't this backpack a little small even for you?"

Kim looked at him for a moment, then grinned.

"It's my foster daughter's. She's always in a rush."

"Ah. I'm Cameron Watanabe, by the way."

"Kimberly Hart. Pleased to meet you, Cameron."

"Most people call me Cam."

"And most people call me Kim. Over there are my three foster kids- Chip, Ronny, and Lily. That's Ronny's backpack you're carrying," Kim told him as they walked along the station. "That's Chip's friend Vida and her sister Madison, and the brown-haired boy is some guy named Xander. No one has given me an adequate explanation yet of why he's here. Oh, that's Billy. I think he might be my boyfriend."

"What makes you think that?"

"Um… we've made out a couple times over the past two days. Twice, to be exact."

"That could do it," Cam agreed with a grin. Kim rolled her eyes. "We've been friends since elementary school… it's kind of new seeing him in this way… oh okay, Kim, telling your love life to a perfect stranger! That's just great."

Cam laughed. "How about I tell you my life story in exchange? My mom died when I was little, and she made Father promise to make sure I didn't get hurt. He took this to mean to not train me as a ninja, even though he's a sensei at the Wind Ninja Academy, and to call me every-"

The phone rang from within Cam's pocket, and although he looked at the location of the sound he made no moves to get the phone out.

"Perfect timing, Father, really perfect."

"At least you have a biological dad who worries about you."

"Dead?"

"I wish."

"Ah, that kind of father. I see."

"So, Cam, what brings you to Angel Grove?"

"A computer camp. You and your entourage?"

Kim laughed at the word as they continued towards the station's exit. "Billy and I need to help some friends of ours, and since we all lived here in the 'good old days' we're meeting up with them here. Tonight we're sleeping at my friend's Trini's."

Cam groaned loudly.

"I've been so busy convincing Father to simply let me come to the camp that I forgot to reserve some place to sleep! The camp has a dormitory, but it won't be open tonight. Could I impose your friend?"

Kim surveyed the chaos.

"Honestly, I don't think she'll even notice you with these guys around."

It was only a few blocks from the station, to Trini's house so the group opted to walk instead of calling several cabs or renting a minivan that could take hours to arrive. Trini's house was a small yellow house with a green roof surrounded by a luscious garden of flowers and vegetables. Feeling cheered already, Kim went up to the front door. Before she could knock however, the door swung wide open.

"Kim!" smiled a slender Asian woman with a long black braid dressed in a yellow sun dress. The two women hugged closely. Chip apologetically whispered to Vida, "We're meeting one other friend of Kim's- Trini. She's letting us stay here tonight."

Kim gave one of her oldest friends a quick recap of who was sleeping in the house tonight. Without a single grumble or eye roll Trini let them all in. Half-asleep the kids were tucked under a vast yellow blanket on the couch. Kim and Billy relaxed at the dining room table while Trini went into the kitchen to prepare a late-night snack for the trio. Stepping into the kitchen Cam observed, "Your whole house seems to be yellow."

"I like the color yellow," Trini flushed as she steeped the tea. "Just like Kim likes pink and Billy likes blue and Jason likes red and gold and Zack likes black."

"Zack's Goth?"

That made Trini laugh. "No, no. He just likes the color."

"Thank you for the hospitality. I'll let the three of you catch up; I'm going to call my father, tell him that I haven't given myself even a paper cut or a stubbed toe yet, and go to bed. Good night."

And Cam headed off to the mat of blankets and pillows Trini had set up for him in front of the living room fireplace where a small fire was crackling. Carrying a tray containing an assortment of cookies she entered the study where Billy and Kim were sitting on the couch. Once the tray was on the coffee table the original Yellow Power Ranger sank down into an armchair.

"We need to talk."


	8. Chapter 8: The Prologue, Delayed

Okay; one last thing. Here's how this fic ought to have begun, but I forgot. Oops? Now THIS will probably be the last chapter; I have too many other plot bunnies to add reviving this one to the mix.

Disclaimer: Just the plot bunny & _The Great Forest_. No, I won't shut up about my novel, which WILL be available in book form within the month.

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

It was a sunny day in the city of Ocean Bluff, although that could not be noted in the windowless kitchen of the pizza parlor Jungle Karma Pizza. Three people were preparing pizzas; two teenagers in green T-shirts with the parlor's logo on them and a slightly older man in a long-sleeved white chef's shirt. One of the teenagers, a lithe young woman with gold hair with dark highlights, laughed to the man as she reached over and shoved his arm playfully, "I can't believe you didn't tell us, RJ!"

"Let's just say I wanted it to be a surprise, Lily," smiled the man, who had somewhat uncombed shoulder-length brown hair and stubble. The third person, a no-nonsense Asian teenager with stern almond brown eyes and stick-up black hair grinned wryly.

"Some surprise!"

"What surprise?" asked a sandy-haired young man with a casual air, clad in the same uniform as the other two teenagers with the addition of a red baseball cap with the JKP logo on it, as he came down the stairs in the back of the kitchen. Lily let out an amused sigh.

"Let's just say Theo and I saw the Violet Wolf Ranger before- we just didn't know he was RJ until last week."

"Yeah," laughed the newcomer. "Why didn't you tell us you had the Wolf morpher, RJ?"

"It wasn't time, Casey. That's all there was to it," RJ replied contentedly as he tossed a pizza into the air. Casey shot a thoughtful look at Theo and Lily.

"Where did you see the Violet Ranger before?"

"With RJ's side of it the story is now complete, and even longer than it was before!" Lily commented as she rolled out some dough. Theo snorted before adding, "That's putting it mildly!"

Casey shrugged mildly as he leaned against the stair railing. He smiled, "Okay, then. How about how you two became friends? You said once that you were best friends even before you joined the Pai Zhua Academy. But you're so different."

"Sorry, Casey," Lily grinned. "That's part of the same story."

"Um… how RJ and his dad got into that feud of theirs?"

"Same story," RJ replied as he smeared sauce on the pizza dough. Breathing heavily, a brown-haired young woman with glasses came in, wearing the same uniform as Lily, Theo, and Casey.

"Well, the JKP is officially closed! I'm glad Dai Shi doesn't usually attack on our busier days!"

"Oh Fran," Lily shot the other woman a fond look. Casey informed her, "Apparently these three having been keeping a secret."

"What?"

"I don't know, but it involves how Theo and Lily became friends, them seeing the Violet Wolf Ranger, and how RJ and his dad cut off their relationship."

"Don't forget saving the world," Theo grinned. Casey looked at him.

"It's official. I want to know this story."

"Me too," Fran nodded eagerly. "I love stories!"

"But where to start," Lily mulled to herself. Casey joked, "The beginning would be a good place to start!"

Theo grinned wryly. "But in this case we don't know where the beginning is. It could have been when the Corona Aurora was stolen billions of years ago, or when a young Eltarian named Zordon took a stand against evil during the height of the Dark Days, or when in 1993 five young teenagers received the very first morphers and became the first team of Power Rangers. Or it could have started on April 2nd 1999, or… well, you get the picture."

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><p>A group of six men and women barely in their twenties were hanging out on the front steps of a gleaming white mansion overlooking the city of San Angeles. Absently one of them, a lean young woman with dark gold hair in a yellow tank top and jeans, idly informed the others, "I lived in San Angeles for a few months."<p>

"You did?" a sharp-looking African American with dreadlocks in a black shirt and pants looked over at her curiously. "You never told us that, Ronny."

"It was back in 1999, **Will**. That's nine years ago now. A pretty awesome adventure started for me there. I'm still mad at you guys; my siblings had their future teammates come along but none of you guys came along for the ride. You totally missed out."

"We did?" a cheerful Asian man with fluffy black hair in a blue T-shirt and jeans looked slightly wistful. "Was the adventure really that great?"

"Totally, Dax."

"Can't blame me, I hadn't been built yet," laughed a young man with chestnut curls. A young Hispanic woman with shoulder-length black in a pink tube dress rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're a human now, Mack."

"I know, Rose."

"1999," frowned the final person on the steps, a young man with sleek dishwater blond hair down to his shoulders and metallic grey eyes, clad in an orange shirt and grey corduroy pants. "Didn't something major happen that year involving the Power Rangers other than Lost Galaxy?"

"That's what I'm talking about," Ronny grinned as she leaned back. "You guys want to know what you missed out on?"

"Sure," nodded Rose, who always craved information. **Will** agreed.

"It sounds interesting."

Everyone looked hopefully at Ronny, who grinned.

"Okay. I guess it started without me, in Angel Grove, where the first Power Rangers were located."

* * *

><p>A swarm of humans and magical beings exited the record store in the secluded city of Briarwood. A young man with light coffee-toned skin and tightly curled black hair flipped the sign on the door to read 'closed'. He and his four co-workers all wore purple open-front shirts with buttons over their clothes; under his was a red shirt with a flaming phoenix on it and black jeans. To fill the following silence he commented, "I've been wondering something."<p>

"Yeah, mate?" a handsome brunette man replied, his voice carrying a trace of Australia in it. He wore a green turtleneck sweater and khaki pants. The first looked over his four teammates.

"How the heck did you four become friends?"

"Hm, Madison and I are twins, Bowen. That could be why we're friends," a young Hispanic woman whose hair was dyed neon pink replied sarcastically. She wore a black T-shirt, a pink skirt, black fishnet tights, and pink combat boots. Bowen rolled his eyes.

"Very funny, Vida. I know you two are twin sisters, and that you saved Chip from getting creamed by bullies in elementary school. Then you two became best friends as a result. But how did Xander enter the picture?"

"Via a complicated adventure that we just recently added the final piece to," the Aussie commented wryly. "You really don't want to know, Bowen."

"Yes I do! Madison?" Bowen looked imploringly over at his girlfriend, a fair-skinned young woman with silky black hair in jeans and a long-sleeved blue shirt. Madison flushed.

"I don't know…"

"Please?"

"I don't see why not," commented a lanky redheaded young man as he scratched his back with a toilet plunger, dressed in a yellow T-shirt with a spiky bird-like yellow Pokémon on it and jeans. He added, "And since it's largely my story, I decide who we tell it to. And I say our Red Ranger deserves to know what chaos brought the four of us together."

"Thank you. I think."

* * *

><p>In the recently opened city of Newtech City, Officer Tate of the intergalactic organization Space Patrol Delta led his toddler son into a shining lab. A humanoid alien worked at a table; she had curly dark brown hair and seemed to be a Caucasian woman save for her huge feline ears covered in dark fur and the leathery navy spots forming a triangle pattern on her cheeks. Officer Tate told her, "Kat, I need to go check out a monster sighting. Could you keep an eye on Sky for me?"<p>

"Sure," she smiled, turning around. The dark blond man shot her a grateful smile as he left.

"Thanks, Kat."

"Hi, Sky," she smiled at the solemn blond boy. "How are you today?"

"Okay. Dad was going to tell me a story but he needs to go stop a monster as the Red Ranger. When he gets back he'll tell me one. He promised."

"I could tell you a story."

"A true story," Sky ordered her, his harsh blue eyes on her bright green eyes. "Dad always tells me true stories."

"Those are always the best ones," agreed Kat. "How about I tell you the story of how I came to live on Earth? It involves the Power Rangers, especially the very first ones."

"That sounds good," Sky clambered into a revolving chair. "Is my dad in it?"

"No. This happened before S.P.D. organized a branch here on Earth, in 1999. But it's still a good story, Sky."

"I'll decide that."

Kat grinned.

"Okay then."

* * *

><p>It was a stormy day in the city of Reefside, so the Cybercafé was nearly empty except for a group of six including the redheaded owner Hayley in a brown dress. A slightly chubby African-American in a blue shirt and jeans let out a heavy breath.<p>

"This day is boring. I'm so bored I don't even want to play video games!"

"That's serious," grinned a young woman with dark gold hair as she strummed a chord her guitar. She wore a black tank top and yellow capris. "So, anyone have any ideas what to do?"

"Nope, Kira," a handsome young man with chestnut brown hair in a red shirt and brown pants shook his head. "I wish I could play soccer."

"It's raining," the African American pointed out, making the other man roll his eyes.

"No, duh, Ethan."

"Guys," sighed a man in his late twenties, older than the others save Hayley, who wore a black sweater and khaki pants. "Hey, Trent. Think this is a good time to tell them the story?"

"I got nothing better," shrugged the sixth person in the room, a tawny-skinned young man with fluffy black hair in a white shirt and pants. Kira glared at him.

"What story? Why haven't you told me? I'm your girlfriend!"

"It's still kind of painful, and embarrassing. But I guess it's about time that I told you."

"How come Dr. O. knew then?" Ethan frowned. Trent grinned wryly.

"He mentioned a Kim being the first Pink Ranger the summer of '05 and that led to me telling him."

"Between the two of us we should be able to tell you what happened," Dr. O. commented. "I'll start."

* * *

><p>In and around the city of Blue Bay Harbor it was also storming. Under the nearby Wind Ninja Academy was a high-tech lab where a group of six people in their mid-twenties were sitting around eating popcorn and playing Go Fish.<p>

"Got any threes, Shane?" the only woman in the group asked a coffee-skinned young man with fuzzy black hair clipped close to his head dressed in a red sweatshirt and jeans. She wore a blue shirt and white skirt that offset her sun-streaked blond hair. Shane shook his head.

"Nope. Go Fish, Tori."

As Tori grumpily got a card off the pile Shane asked a lanky, blond man in a white shirt and dark red pants, "Got any sixes, Hunter?"

"Yeah," Hunter conceded, passing over the card. Smugly Shane made a match. Hunter was skipped over so the wiry, dark man dressed in a navy blue shirt and pants near to him went. Looking over at an Asian man with fair skin and silky black hair wearing a green polo shirt and black trousers as well as wire frame glasses, he asked with a one-sided smile, "Got any ones, Cam?"

"Yeah, Blake." As Cam passed over the card he commented, "This is starting to get dull. We've been playing for hours."

"Dude, who doesn't like Go Fish?" smiled a young man with shoulder length wavy brown hair and cheerful brown eyes, wearing a yellow shirt and khaki pants. "I love Go Fish."

"I like Go Fish too, Dustin, but it's getting tiresome."

"Yeah," Tori had to admit. "But what else can we do?"

"The motocross course is too muddy for even me and Dustin. Too muddy for Dustin," Blake repeated for emphasis. Hunter nodded. Shane sighed, "And the skateboard park is closed."

Glancing at the humming generator in the corner, Cam grumbled, "The power is out so no computers."

"How about a story?" Dustin suggested hopefully. Cam looked thoughtful.

"I've never told anyone a particular story, largely because I didn't want Dad to flip out, but since he's loosened up so much, maybe it's safe to tell it now."

"Oooo! A secret adventure!" Tori grinned, snuggling down. "Tell all, Cam."

"I was attending a summer camp for computer geeks in 1999 when I decided to go to a smoothie bar at the wrong time. I got dragged into insanity of the Power Ranger kind."

"That's the best kind of insanity, dude!"

"Hm. Anyway, I collected everyone's points of views save the Violet Ranger's afterwards in a book over a period of time. And last week I got his perceptive thanks to Lily telling it to Billy, who told it to me. So the story is now complete. And if anyone interrupts at all-" this warning was directed at Dustin "I will stop telling the story. Clear?"

The other five nodded.

* * *

><p>At the Collins mansion in the city Silver Hills eleven people were lounging near the pool. Two men wore red; a shaggy brown-haired man in a red T-shirt and jeans with holes in them and a crisp handsome blond in a red suit. One brunette woman wore a pink sundress and sat by the blond man, and a honey-skinned woman with chocolate brown hair sat by the brown-haired man, wearing a white blouse and a soft pink skirt that fell to her ankles.<p>

Two men wore blue; a wiry man with spiky black hair and hard brown eyes and a youthful African American with springy black hair. A green-haired man with a green jewel embedded between his eyebrows wore a green sweatshirt and cargo pants. A strong but gentle-appearing Hispanic man with wire frame glasses and clipped black hair wore a black T-shirt and khaki pants. Two women wore yellow; a maternal African American with curly hair down to the middle of her back in a mini-dress and a trim Caucasian with corn silk colored hair, a fair complexion, and intense brown eyes. By her side was a black-haired man with bronzed skin wearing a dark red shirt and black pants, who spoke dryly.

"Taylor and I never told you guys how we nearly met in 1999, have we?"

"We did meet, Eric. We just didn't exchange names because we kind of busying fighting monsters."

"Whatever," he shrugged. The blond man commented with a grin, "So much for best friends not having any secrets, huh?"

"Wes!" laughed the brunette. More seriously she commented, "1999. That's years before Time Force or Wild Force. What monsters did you two fight?"

"1999, Jen," commented the man in blue. "That was the year when there was no Earth-based Ranger team, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's right, Lucas. So what did you do? Go to another planet or visit the spaceship _Terra Venture_ like Space did?"

"Nope," Eric shook his head. "We saved the day right here on Earth."

Taylor elbowed him in the ribs hard.

"Ow! What? I said we!"

"Okay you two," laughed the other woman in yellow. "Just tell us the story."

"Fine, Katie. Tommy and Jason filled in a lot of it for us in 2003 or around that time, 'cause Taylor and I just played a small but crucial part in the mess. Is that better?"

"Yes."

"1999," marveled the African American in blue. "I would have been fourteen. That's a long time ago."

"Max you're just twenty-three now!" the man in black pointed out in a slight Spanish accent. Max shrugged.

"Still, Danny. Nine years is a long time."

"I think I'm mentioned in this story," commented the other man in red. The woman next to him looked at him in surprise.

"Really, Cole?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "But I'm not sure, Alyssa."

"Could we start the story?" Taylor grinned wryly. Everyone nodded.

* * *

><p>A group of six people let off their game of volleyball to go sit on the picnic blanket spread out on the beach just outside Mariner Bay. A sandy-haired man in red swimming trunks and a sleeveless white shirt laughed, "That was fun, guys!"<p>

"Totally, Carter," agreed a wiry dishwater blond man in a grey shirt and khaki capris. An Asian man with mussed black hair in a blue shirt and black cargo pants commented, "I love spending time near the ocean."

"Pass the apples, Ryan," a pretty woman with baby blue eyes and silky blond hair in a pink wrap dress asked the dishwater blond, who passed the bowl of them easily.

"Sure, sis."

"You should have joined us, Angie," grinned a shaven African American in a green T-shirt and black shorts. The slight brunette he was sitting next to shook her head.

"No, thanks, Joel. I had fun just watching you guys."

"Your loss," Carter warned her with a grin. "This picnic was a great idea, Chad. We don't spend enough time together."

The man in blue looked pleased at the praise. The blond woman gave Carter a kiss on the cheek.

"It's been eight years since we were Rangers together, Carter. The bond between us is supposed to have been altered."

"But the first five, Dana-"

"Are the first five," Joel grinned. "Ditto for the first sixteen, or nineteen depending when you put the cut-off. Every team has a different type of bond. Besides, we get together at least once a month still."

"Dr. Fairweather is a good influence on you, I see," laughed a curly brunette in a yellow tank top and brown shorts. Joel shoved her playfully.

"Kelsey, it's been Dr. Rawlings since 2001!"

"Yeah, yeah," she laughed as she bit into her apple. Once she had swallowed, she asked her friends, "Speaking of the first eighteen, has anyone told you guys what happened in 1999?"

"No," Angie shook her head. The others shook their heads as well. Kelsey frowned, "Huh. I thought Jason or Tommy would have told you at least, Carter. Oh well, they probably thought that I had told you since I helped out a bit."

"With what?"

"It's a long story, so everyone get comfortable."

* * *

><p>The spaceship <em>Terra Venture<em> was snug on the habitable planet of Mirinoi, and a group of people were sitting in and around their favorite tree in the mimicked Earth town on the ship. All wore dull grey uniforms with large areas of a certain color. A man with light brown hair had red; a stern Asian man with spiked black hair was blue; a shaven African American was green; a dark blond woman and a silky blond woman wore wore magenta. A bubbly brunette woman wore a belly-bearing yellow top and a matching yellow miniskirt while a olive-skinned, black-haired young man wore a dark red shirt and dull grey trousers. This last person commented, "Jason recently sent me a record of the events of the summer of 1999."

"Shouldn't already know those, Mike?" laughed the man in red. "I mean, that was when we defeated the bad guys in the other universe."

"No, Leo, I'm talking about events on Earth."

"But nothing Ranger-related happened on Earth in 1999," frowned the dark blond woman, pushing her wire frame glasses up her nose. Mike smiled.

"Nothing official, or rather no single team occurred. You're right there, Kendrix. But in truth, 1999 was the most critical year for Power Rangers except for 1993 when the first Rangers were chosen."

"Why?" asked the man in green. Mike pulled a thick brown book out of his black backpack.

"Want me to tell you guys? Damon?"

The man in green grinned as he commented, "Yeah, you got me curious."

"Kai?"

The man in blue shrugged, "I don't see why not."

"Leo?"

"Sure, bro."

"Kendrix?"

"All right," she nodded. Turning to the other woman in pink, she inquired, "Karone?"

"It sounds like fun! Is my big brother in it?"

"Of course; he's the Red Space Ranger."

"Yeah!"

So Mike opened the book to the first page.

* * *

><p>Beyond the city of Angel Grove, in the desert and in the mountains, was a massive sandstone fortress. In its central chamber, which was brightly colored and contained many technological devices, seventeen people sat on the floor. One of them, a black-haired man in red, smiled.<p>

"Remember the summer of 1999?"

"Who could forget it, Jason?" snorted a petite brunette dressed in a pink T-shirt and jean shorts. The handsome golden-haired man in blue next to her nodded, his blue eyes serious.

"It was an intense adventure."

"That's putting it mildly," an African American in a black sweater and pants rolled his eyes. "How about you tell it, Jason, since you're our all-powerful leader?"

"Fine by me. Just try not to add in your points of view too often."

In all of these locations the speaker began the story with the same exact words: "It all began, really, when Ernie returned in the summer of 1999 shortly after school had let out for the year…"


End file.
